Well, I missed the Cinco de Mayo train with this recipe. I was getting ready to post this last Sunday, but I got into a cleaning mood all Sunday morning and completely cleaned every surface in my house. I even vacuumed my balcony. Who does that? It was one of those moments when your realize that you are totally turning into your mom. I am having those a lot lately!

I feel like May is going by so fast. I was shocked the other day that it was already May and now we are already halfway through. We are on summer time already apparently. I know it’s no longer Cinco de Mayo, but one of the great thing about Mexican food is that you can eat it all year round.

Since I have moved to California, Carnitas have become my favorite kind of taco. What are Carnitas you ask? Carnitas are the Mexican version of pulled pork. The pork is shredded and then cooked a little longer to caramelize. What’s better than carnitas? Well I would say carnitas in a corn tortilla topped with salsa verde and your choice of pickled onions or cabbage slaw. Oh yeah, that’s what I am talking about.

The night before- Cut pork shoulder into 3-4 inch pieces, trimming off the excess fat. Sprinkle pieces of the the pork with kosher salt and stick in a large sealable bag to refrigerate overnight.

The day of- Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a large Dutch oven or pot heat oil over medium-high heat. Sear pork pieces on all sides about 2-3 minutes on each side. You may need to do this in 2 parts to lay all the pork pieces down flat. Remove the browned pork to a plate.

In a 1 cup measuring cup squeeze a lime and orange and fill remaining cup with water. Pour into the Dutch oven and scrape the brown bits off the bottom. Add in chili powders, bay leaves, cumin, garlic, onions, and a pinch of kosher salt to the liquid. Return the pork back into the pot and then add water so that ⅔rds of pork is covered.

Place in oven to cook for 2½ to 3 hours without a lid. Turn the pork a few times during the cooking time. The pork is cooked when most of the liquid is gone and pork falls apart easily with a fork.

Shred the pork with two forks. Return pork back to the oven and cook until pork crispy and caramelized. This will take 15-20 minutes.

I started looking for Cinco de Mayo recipes to make last weekend. I found really good-looking recipes for guacamole, pico de gallo, and salsa verde on the blog Shared Appetite. I was so inspired by all of Chris’s photos and Mexican recipes, I planned a whole weekend of Mexican foods to cook. There are even more recipes I want to try, but I decided to start with these three.

Guacamole

What goes more perfectly with margaritas than a bowl of fresh homemade guacamole and tortilla chips? M and I have given you severalrecipes for guacamole over the years. Think of this as an update to those. I have to say this recipe is the closest to restaurant guacamole that I have ever made. The best part of making guacamole is that it is so easy to make and you don’t need to cook anything- just mix! If you use my bag method, it is even easier.

Cut the avocados in half and remove pits. Using a dull knife, like a butter knife, slice a grid pattern in the avocado making sure to not cut the skin (about 3-4 vertical, 4-5 horizontal). Flip the skin inside out over a bowl, and small squares of the avocado should fall out. Take a spoon and scrape off the rest. Repeat for the rest of the avocado halves.

Once avocados are in the bowl, stir together and mash up to your liking ( I leave mine a bit chunky.)

Add the avocado to the plastic bag with the other ingredients and add 1 tbsp. of lime and chopped cilantro. Seal bag and mix ingredients together with your hands on the outside of the bag. Add salt and pepper to taste and add additional lime if need.

Let set for 30 minutes in the fridge in the bag for better flavor. Serve and enjoy.

When storing leftovers make sure to place plastic wrap directly on guacamole to prevent browning.

Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo is basically a fresh tomato salsa. Salsa is one of my favorite condiments. I like salsa with chips, tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, taco salads, baked potatoes, and even perogies. When I was single, I used to go through a huge jar of salsa every week. When I go to Chipotle, I love their mild fresh tomato salsa on my burritos and in my salads. I love it so much that I even get a side of it to go with their lime & kosher salt chips. I have been searching for years for a recipe that is like their salsa and this recipe is totally it!

Whether you call it Pico de Gallo, fresh salsa, tomato salsa, or mild salsa, it is delicious and so easy to make!

Salsa Verde

Let’s talk some more about salsa. This salsa is green from the tomatillos that you put it it, instead of tomatoes. There is a taco place in San Fran called Tacolicious and they often come to our market lunches and sample sales. I love their carnitas or brisket tacos covered in some of their salsa verde! Sooooo good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I made all these sauces and salsa this weekend like they were going out of style! Can you tell that I love Mexican food?!

This salsa is easy to pull together by roasting all your veggies on a baking sheet. You then simply process everything together and you have salsa. Dip it with chips or top some tacos and you are good to go.

1-2 tablespoons lime juice, about 1-2 limes depending on how juicy the limes are

⅓ cup loosely packed cilantro

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Prepare a baking sheet by lining with aluminum foil and drizzling part of olive oil down on the pan to prevent sticking. Place tomatillos, garlic, onion, and jalapeño on the baking sheet. Take remaining olive oil and drizzle over vegetables and sprinkle with 1-2 tsp. kosher salt.

Place baking sheet in oven for 18-20 minutes. After baking, turn broiler on for 3 -4 minutes to slightly char the top of vegetables. Take pan out of oven and let cool.

Place tomatillos and onions in the food processor. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and add to food processor. With gloves or plastic bags on your hands, remove top and seeds from jalapeño. Add to food processor . Keep some seeds on the jalapeño for spiciness. Add in cilantro and 1 tbsp. lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend all together until smooth.

I typically buy healthier items when I grocery shop at Whole Foods (versus a typical Boston-area grocery store such as Stop & Shop or Shaw’s.) However, the one thing that gets me everytime is the tres leches cake from prepared foods section. It’s always located on the last end-cap we have to go around before we head to the cashier. I can practically hear it calling my name from the shelf! I often find myself picking up a slice to split with my husband for dessert.

While K and I were discussing what Cinco de Mayo recipes we were going to post, I told her about my obsession with the WF tres leches cake. I’ve never made one before and she told me that I had to try making tres leches cupcakes instead. K just bought me some awesome new cupcake pans for my birthday so I figured it would be the perfect chance to use them.

If you haven’t had a tres leches cake (or cupcake) before, tres leches means three milks due to the three varieties of milk used in the recipe. This recipe actually has four types if you count milk and heavy cream as separate types of milk (the other two are evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl of an electric mixer, add the egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar. Beat them together using the whisk attachment until mixture is well combined. Add the milk and 1 and ½ teaspoon vanilla; continue to beat until combined.

Pour the liquid mixture over the flour mixture and stir together gently with a spatula. Wash out the mixing bowl and whisk attachment. Once dry, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks appear. Add ¼ cup sugar and continue to beat until combined.

Using the spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the other large bowl. Mix until just combined and pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15 minutes or until center of cupcakes reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the tres leches glaze

Line a baking sheet with foil and transfer the cupcakes once they have cooled. Using a fork or a skewer, poke about 10 holes into each cupcake.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and ½ cup heavy cream. Pour mixture over the cupcakes (some residual glaze will spill over onto the foil.) Place the baking sheet of cupcakes in the fridge and allow to chill up to 30 minutes.

For the cupcake topping

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, add the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Using the whisk attachment, mix together until stiff peaks form. Use a spatula or spoon to top cupcakes with whipped cream topping.

You all know how much I love themed-blogging! I made all sorts of Mexican food this weekend to share with you this week to help plan your Cinco De Mayo celebrations for this upcoming weekend. Or, if you are like me and love all Mexican foods all the time, there will be plenty of new recipes for you to try anytime.

I am going to start this fiesta off right with my favorite margarita recipe. I made this for a group of friends at a bachelorette party I was at last year and for my family last Memorial Day weekend. It was a hit both times.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge liquor drinker Until last year I didn’t have to much experience with drinking margaritas. In search of the perfect after-work happy hour place with two of my co-workers in NY, we found a restaurant close by that served amazing margarita for five dollars during happy hour. You are probably thinking that’s a rip-off, but in NYC that is a steal for a drink that is served in a glass cup. Sad, but true! Anyways, I fell in love with margaritas and especially love them served with freshly made tortilla chips salsa and guac. Needless to say, we frequented this place a lot and always had a good time.

Making your margaritas at home is always the best because you can control the amount of liquor you want in it and you can put extra salt on the rim! This recipe makes four drinks so feel free to double or halve it as needed. Serve with a salt-rimmed glass and ice!

In a sauce pan, heat up water and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved. Place simple syrup in a jar or pitcher and let cool.

Using a juicer or citrus press squeeze 8-12 limes until you have 1 cup of lime juice. For easier juicing bring the limes to room temperature and roll the lime back and forth with the palm of your hand against a hard flat surface (like counter-top) and apply pressure to the lime as you roll.

To prepare the glass rub a lime wedge on the edge of glass to add a small amount of moisture. Place some kosher salt on a plate and turn glasses rim in the salt until covered, add in ice and pour in the margarita! Enjoy!

A couple years ago, I posted this recipe for black bean burritos on our blog because it was a great quick meal that I made often. I just started making these burritos again to pack up for lunches during the work week. They re-heat really well and are delicious! I thought I would redo the recipe for all of you to give it a fresh face, plus add in all the changes I have made over the years.

The key to this recipe is a good tortilla. I previously used whole wheat tortillas, until I found a great white tortilla by La Tortilla Factory that is light and has less calories then the wheat ones I used previously. I also have been using these tortillas for my favorite fajitas and they are so good!

These Chicken Fajitas are one of my main go-to meals that I have been making since I started cooking for myself in college. The recipe has come along over time and matured (just like me!) I no longer need my George Forman to cook a piece of chicken like I did in college. I have moved on to making chicken in my Le Creuset cast iron skillet and it comes out so juicy and tender.

They key to not overcooking with the cast iron skillet is to cut the chicken breast (which can be so huge!) into thin pieces that are around the same thickness. I use my instant read thermometer to know when the chicken is done so there is no overcooking. I then prepare some fresh sliced bell peppers and onion in a large frying pan with a small amount of oil until they onions are cooked and then stir in some fresh cilantro, lime juice, and cayenne pepper. I serve the sliced chicken and veggies in a warm whole wheat tortilla topped with salsa and light sour cream. Since my boyfriend and I are trying to eat healthier, the fajitas have been making it into our menu line-up most weeks.

Heat a skillet on medium and cook the thin chicken breast until cooked, registering a 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté vegetables until the onions are cooked. Once cooked, take off heat and stir remaining lime juice and cayenne pepper and all of the cilantro into veggies.

Slice the cooked chicken.

Warm tortillas in the microwave between two pieces of paper towel.

In the middle of tortilla place a few slices of chicken, some peppers and onions and then top with salsa and light sour cream to your liking.

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What is your favorite recipe that you have been cooking for a long time and that you have improved over time?